U. S. authorities on Wednesday announced they had launched arrests of 53 Medicare fraud suspects in Miami, Detroit, and Denver.

The Justice Department said indictments unsealed in Detroit involved 53 people including doctors, clinic owners and patients on the charges of conspiring to defraud the government program of $56 million. There were separate indictments in Miami charging eight people of defrauding the healthcare system by creating phony clinics that produced fraudulent bills of about $100 million.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, "As we work on health reform legislation, we're working to ensure that the final legislation includes new policies to help prevent fraud and abuse."

The problem in Detroit was so serious that a strike force was recently established and Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and FBI Director Robert Mueller held a news conference Wednesday at the Justice Department in Washington.

Attorney General Eric Holder said ''As demonstrated by today's charges and arrests, we will strike back against those whose fraudulent schemes not only undermine a program upon which 45 million aged and disabled Americans depend, but which also contribute directly to rising healthcare costs that all Americans must bear."

The indictments allege use of phony prescriptions, cash kickbacks and stolen Medicare and physician ID numbers. Either the services were not provided or not medically necessary, but Medicare ended up paying the bill because of poor scrutiny of claims.

"This is not a victimless crime," FBI Director Robert Mueller said. "We in the FBI now have more than 2,400 pending healthcare fraud investigations."

As authorities cracked down in Miami, violators began exporting their schemes to Detroit and other cities. ''In fact, 10 of the defendants named in the indictments unsealed today are alleged to have brought their fraud schemes from Miami to Detroit,'' Holder said.

``Strike force operations in Miami have seen instances of fraud spread quickly through communities in that area. After we arrested and charged criminals in Miami, their cohorts simply moved their schemes to Detroit.''

Of the 53 defendants named in the indictments, about 35 have been arrested by FBI and other federal agents and more arrests are expected later.

All together, strike forces in Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, and Detroit have charged more than 250 defendants with Medicare fraud involving about $600 million in false claims, primarily for HIV infusion services and medical equipment.

Mueller said investigators are using techniques such as undercover operations and wiretaps in these types of cases. "By pursuing these methods we can reduce the long
-term damage to the American economy and to the citizens we serve," he said.